The Life And Death Of John Brennan Crutchley, AKA The Vampire Rapist
He Abducted And Raped A Teenage Hitckhiker
Photo: via YouTubeOn November 21, 1985, John Brennan Crutchley's wife and young son were visiting family in Maryland for Thanksgiving, leaving the 39-year-old husband and father with the house all to himself. While driving near his home, Crutchley picked up a hitchhiker and offered to take the 19-year-old California woman to the nearby city of Melbourne, but not before stopping at his house.
Once in his driveway, instead of running into his home to pick up the notebook he claimed he needed for work, Crutchley tied a ligature around the teenager's neck, choked her into unconsciousness, and dragged her into his house. Then, he removed all of the young woman's clothing and strapped her to the counter in his kitchen.
He Videotaped Himself Committing Rape And Torture
Photo: InspiredImagesWhen the young woman regained consciousness, she discovered John Brennan Crutchley had tied her to the top of the kitchen island in his family home, and he'd also set up lights and a video camera. Crutchley used the video camera and lights to film himself as he brutally raped the teenager, presumably so that he could watch the footage later to relive the horrifying sexual assault.
However, the young woman didn't realize that in addition to raping her, Crutchley intended to document himself subjecting her to even more disturbing and horrifying acts straight out of a horror movie.
He Drank A Massive Amount Of His Victim's Blood
Photo: KawamaruAfter he raped the young woman, John Brennan Crutchley used medical tubing and needles to drain blood from the teenager's veins into a container. As he took the blood from the woman's body, Crutchley told her he was a vampire and he was going to drink her blood.
Over the course of more than 20 hours, Crutchley alternated between raping the teenager and draining her blood, leaving her incredibly weak and traumatized. Medical experts later determined Crutchley had removed nearly half of the young woman's blood, leaving her very close to death.
He Was Caught When His Victim Escaped
Photo: via YouTubeAfter repeatedly raping the young woman and draining approximately 45% of her blood, John Brennan Crutchley left his captive locked in a bathroom while he went to work. Despite being near death, the teenager was able to summon the strength to push the bathroom window open and climb outside.
Wrapped only in a towel and with handcuffs around her wrists and ankles, a passing motorist discovered the young woman staggering down the road not far from Crutchley's home. After showing her rescuer the house where she'd been raped and held captive for nearly an entire day, the young woman was taken to the hospital for urgent medical attention.
The Woman He Abducted And Raped Was Initially Too Traumatized To Press Charges
Photo: via YouTubeAfter escaping from John Brennan Crutchley's home, the 19-year-old received the medical treatment she desperately needed, and a hematologist later stated the teenager would have died of blood loss within 12 hours if she hadn't been able to get help. Once law enforcement learned about the horrific rape and torture the teenager had been subjected to, they got a warrant to search Crutchley's home, and they uncovered enough evidence to corroborate her story and place him under arrest.
However, the young woman had been so traumatized by the terrifying ordeal, she didn't want to press charges against the man who had kidnapped her, raped her repeatedly, and drained nearly half of the blood from her body. Eventually, a rape counselor was able to convince the teenager to press charges, telling the young woman that convicting Crutchley would prevent him from being able to harm additional victims.
He Was Made To Dress As A Girl Until He Was Six Years Old
Photo: via YouTubeBorn on October 1, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, John Brennan Crutchley did not have an easy childhood. According to Crutchley, his mother was distraught over the loss of her eldest child, Donna. Donna had died during surgery the year before John was born, and his mother had hoped to have another daughter to replace the child she'd lost. Consequently, she wished John had been born a girl.
When John was born, she was disappointed by his sex, but according to Crutchley, it didn't stop his mother from dressing him as a girl for the first six years of his life. In addition to being forced to wear a dress, Crutchley also claimed his parents subjected him to severe child abuse, which included beating him until he lost consciousness and burning his fingers.
He Kept Trophies From His Victims
Photo: via YouTubeFollowing the allegations made against John Brennan Crutchley by the young woman he abducted and raped, police searched his home, and they discovered the video camera he'd used to document his crimes. However, when law enforcement reviewed the tape in the camera, they found Crutchley had erased the footage he'd taken of himself raping the teenager and drawing her blood.
The search also uncovered the 19-year-old's ID card, as well as identification belonging to a number of other women, and multiple locks of hair and several necklaces, leading the authorities to suspect they were trophies Crutchley had kept from other crimes he'd committed against other victims. When they searched the engineer's office, they found a number of sexually explicit photographs of a woman tied up and gagged, and some of the images depicted Crutchley choking the woman with his hands.
Experts Think He May Have Murdered Several Women
Photo: via YouTubeIn addition to the ID cards, hair, photos, and necklaces the police found in John Brennan Crutchley's home and office, they discovered a box of index cards the middle-aged husband and father had used to keep track of his various sexual partners. One of the cards referenced Deborah Fitzjohn, Crutchley's former girlfriend who disappeared in 1978 while they were both living in Washington, D.C. Several months later, her naked body was found in the woods, and while Crutchley was the only suspect in her murder, DC authorities were never able to gather enough evidence to charge him with a crime.
Florida officials also linked one of the ID cards found in Crutchley's house with a hitchhiker who went missing in 1985 but has never been found. Plus, they discovered that during the time Crutchley was living in Florida, a number of skeletal remains belonging to unidentified women were found within miles of his home, and after he was incarcerated, these ghastly discoveries ceased.
According to Crutchley's cell mate, the Vampire Rapist admitted to killing several women, including his ex-girlfriend, but law enforcement officials weren't able to collect enough evidence to charge him with any murders. After Crutchley was convicted of kidnapping and sexual battery, Robert Ressler, a renowned criminal profiler, testified that while there was nothing concrete to prove that the admitted rapist was a serial killer, he exhibited the traits of someone who had murdered several people.
He Was A Math Genius Who Worked For NASA And Held Top-Level Security Clearances
Photo: FF16Despite his troubled upbringing, John Brennan Crutchley was extremely intelligent and he excelled at school, particularly in math and science. After graduating from high school, Crutchley earned a degree in physics at Defiance College in Ohio and married his first wife in 1969. Then he got a master's degree in engineering from George Washington University, but he and his wife divorced shortly after he finished school.
Over the next several years, Crutchley got remarried and worked as an engineer at several different companies all over the United States. In 1983, Crutchley moved to Malabar, Florida, with his wife and young son, and he got a job at the Harris Corporation as a NASA contractor. Due to the nature of his work, Crutchley had top-secret security clearance at the Pentagon that gave him access to classified documents.
His Wife Downplayed The Severity Of His Crimes
Photo: via YouTubeAfter John Brennan Crutchley's wife learned that her husband had been arrested and charged with kidnapping, sexual battery, aggravated battery, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, she wasn't exceptionally upset by what her husband had been accused of doing while she and her young son were out of town for Thanksgiving.
When asked about the serious accusations made again her husband, Mrs. Crutchley said he was "a kinky sort of guy," but she refused to believe he was guilty of the charges against him. Eventually, Crutchley pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping, so his wife was no longer able to deny the charges made him. However, instead of admitting that her husband had subjected his young victim to horrifying and depraved acts, Mrs. Crutchley claimed he had committed "a gentle rape, devoid of any overt brutality."
He Was Freed From Prison After Only Ten Years
Photo: via YouTubeWhile the police and prosecutors suspected John Brennan Crutchley was a serial killer, they were only able to charge him with the 1985 kidnapping and rape of the 19-year-old hitchhiker. In April 1986, Crutchley accepted a plea bargain: he pleaded guilty to abducting and raping the young woman while the prosecutors agreed not charge him with other crimes related to drug possession and draining the teenager's blood.
In June 1986, Crutchley was sentenced to 25 years for his horrific crimes, but he was released in 1996 after serving just ten years for the terrifying ordeal he subjected his young victim to. However, Crutchley was not on the streets for long.
He Was Sent Back To Jail For Smoking Marijuana
Almost immediately after he was paroled from prison for good behavior and time served, John Brennan Crutchley was sent to an Orlando halfway house where he was required to take a drug test. Crutchley tested positive for marijuana, which was a violation of his parole, and he was sent straight back to prison.
Eventually, the Vampire Rapist admitted to officials that his cell mates had thrown a party to celebrate his release from jail, and the festivities included smoking marijuana. Consequently, Crutchley was deemed a habitual offender, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
He Had A Padlock On His Penis
Photo: SkitterphotoAfter being sent back to prison in spend the rest of his life in jail, John Brennan Crutchley ended up in solitary confinement because he had 13 body piercings in his genitals, in violation of prison rules. One of these piercings allowed him to a place a padlock on the end of his penis, which he claimed was a symbol of his faithfulness to his former wife, who divorced him after he was sent to prison in 1986.
Shortly after he was returned to jail for violating his parole, he told prison officials that he was unable to remove the piercings from his penis and scrotum, which was later determined to be a lie. Consequently, Crutchley was given time in solitary confinement for his dishonesty.
He Died In Prison From Autoerotic Asphyxiation
Photo: Florida Department of CorrectionsLess than six years after he was sent back to prison to spend the rest of his life in jail, John Brennan Crutchley was found dead in his cell on March 30, 2002, with a plastic bag on his head. Initially, officials thought the 55-year-old convicted rapist had committed suicide, but the Florida Department of Corrections released a report in August 2002 that confirmed Crutchley had accidentally died while performing autoerotic asphyxiation.
While Crutchley has been dead for more than a decade, officials are still trying to identify women they believe he may have killed. In 2010, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office released an image of a skull reconstruction based on the remains of an unidentified woman whose skeletal remains were found in 1985 in a wooded area not far from Crutchley's home.
